Troopers said the 2006 Peterbilt driven by Mahabirsingh was heading south on I-75 a few miles south of State Road 200 on June 20 when a tire blew out. The truck slammed into the guard rail, overturned on the driver's side and burst into flames.

Kevin Alliss, Ray Johnson, Dale Graham and several other motorists who stopped did everything they could to free Mahabirsingh from the burning truck.

Johnson and Alliss applied fire retardant to the truck. When they couldn't stop the flames, they took turns slamming the fire extinguishers against the windshield trying to breaking the glass.

The men, joined by Graham, began grabbing anything they could find — a metal pole, crowbar, a hammer, stones, pieces of wood – to hit the windshield. After each hit, the men had to retreat because of the heat. They said Mahabirsingh was pushing from the inside and finally was able to force himself part way out of the burning truck. The men quickly grabbed him and dragged him away.

Other people stopped traffic and cleared a path for the rescuers. Mahabirsingh twice had to be moved at the scene to avoid explosions coming from the mangled vehicle.

Allis calls the group "The Miracle Team."

Judy Servidio, a nurse and member of the "team," said said Wednesday that she talked with the driver's wife, Lydia Mahabirsingh, several days ago and was told that he was "very, very sick" and had some lung infections and was trying to breathe on his own without the use of a ventilator. She said her husband was "still fighting."

"It was an honor to be one of the last persons he talked with," Servidio said Wednesday.

The other members of the team said they were shocked and devastated when they heard Mahabirsingh had died. They also praised him, saying it was an honor to have known him. Each person also said if they had to do it again, they would not hesitate.

"I'm glad I was there to help him. I know he was a fighter," Alliss said.

Johnson called Mahabirsingh a "God-fearing man" and said "he's in a better place, and he won't have to endure any more pain."

"I prayed for him. I thought about him every day, and had plans to go up there to see him and meet him," Johnson said.

Johnson and Graham said they wished they could have reached Mahabirsingh sooner, even by a few seconds.

"I'm speechless. It makes me sad that we couldn't get to him sooner; even 30 seconds earlier may have made a difference," Graham said.

"Maybe if he got to him 60 seconds sooner we could have made a difference," Johnson added.

Graham and Johnson both said they are now better prepared if they should encounter such a situation again. Both men have purchased Res-Q-Me devices, which they said can be used to cut a seat belt and are strong enough to shatter windshield glass.

"I'm not going to second-guess myself, but it's a learning experience and now I've got something that I can use the next time something like this happens," Johnson said.

Graham said he bought several of the devices and is giving them out to family members and friends.

David Brady, owner of Brady Construction of Ocala Inc., where Mahabirsingh worked, described him as an exemplary employee.

"You couldn't have asked for a better one. He's irreplaceable," Brady said Wednesday.

He said Mahabirsingh was on his way to the Oxford Church of God to drop off lime rock when the accident occurred.

Since then, Brady said, he has closely followed Mahabirsingh's condition and from all indications, he was "showing signs of improvement."

A few days after the crash, Lydia Mahabirsingh said her husband of 37 years had undergone 5½ hours of surgery for a skin graft for his back and legs. She said doctors had been cleaning soot from his lungs twice a day and that he was on a ventilator to help him breathe.

On Wednesday, she said he had two additional skins grafts, with more expected. She said there was an infection in her husband's lungs and blood, and that his organs began to fail one by one: his kidneys then liver, then, on Wednesday morning, his "heart just stopped."

She said his funeral will be held at 4 p.m. July 21 at Living Water Wesleyan Church at 11120 SW County Road 484, Dunnellon.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118 or austin.miller@starbanner.com.

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